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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

That clocks should not go back in winter

310 replies

nosswith · 19/10/2020 09:18

This weekend the clocks go back. Something I object to and would like to see end, at least in England.

Three arguments for doing so used to be made

  • dark mornings in Scotland- fair point, now there is a Scottish Parliament and they can decide, there are enough places with two time zones.
  • Farming- less people affected now with more mechanisation
  • Guy Fawkes Night- I cannot see how one day a year starting with the few celebrations a bit later is an issue.

Since mines, shipyards and factories closed, fewer people start work early, whereas longer retail hours mean more working in the evening. If wfh at least some of the week continues post Covid 19, the numbers going out in the dark mornings will be fewer than before.

AIBU?

OP posts:
WitchesSpelleas · 22/10/2020 07:27

Sorry, I keep forgetting I have name-changed for Hallowe'en - I'm not sock-puppeting - in non-Hallowe'en times I am Pelleas.

WhiteWidow001 · 22/10/2020 07:29

Let's split the difference, change the clocks by half an hour, and just leave them that way forever.

WouldBeGood · 22/10/2020 09:11

@WhiteWidow001 excellent compromise 😃

notimagain · 22/10/2020 11:45

@Alaimo

"Following the EU just isn't appropriate in this instance because most of its member states, with the possible exception of the Irish Republic, aren't as affected by seasonal darkness as we are."

Ehm, what? Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Netherlands, parts of Poland, parts of Germany, parts of Belgium are all at similar or higher latitudes than various parts of the UK.

Agreed Alaimo...And as has been mentioned upthread there's the east/west factor...sunrise in Coruna this morning was at around 8:56 A.M Local (wristwatch) time.

I understand why many think dark mornings are a PITA and want to be avoid the clock change but I get the impression from many comments that some think Britain is somehow unique in having to cope with dark mornings... it really isn't.

anuffername · 22/10/2020 11:54

I get the impression from many comments that some think Britain is somehow unique in having to cope with dark mornings... it really isn't.

Agreed.

I live in SW France and at the moment it is dark until about 8am.
In summer it starts getting light around 5.30 am.

notimagain · 22/10/2020 15:58

I live in SW France and at the moment it is dark until about 8am.

...and classes, certainly at Lycee, usually start at 8.A.M..so as I'm sure you are well aware it's not unusual to see teenagers waiting for the school bus at rural bus stops well before 7 A.M and the kids in town walking to school in the dark in winter.......

anuffername · 22/10/2020 16:28

Actually I have just checked the Meteo and sunrise was 0820 this morning. We are in the middle of nowhere so the school bus picks up all the primary age kids in the area. The ones nearest to us get picked up at 0830 but I think they are possibly the last on the route so many of their classmates will be being picked up in the dark.

Bikingbear · 22/10/2020 16:43

So that's October and kids in France are being picked up before sunrise.
The clocks will change this weekend so next week it will be daylight when they are picked up.
How do you feel about sticking with Summer time / Daylight savings so they continue to be picked up in the dark?

anuffername · 22/10/2020 16:55

Well I don't really have any strong feelings about it.

If I were being utterly selfish I could say that it doesn't bother me in the slightest as I don't have to be up and out in the mornings.

It was more a follow on to the point made by @notimagain that it is not only the UK where this is an issue.

Original poster
nosswith · 22/10/2020 17:13

I went to France last November and Belgium in February (and have travelled there in winter time on many occasions), and that's partly why I prefer lighter evenings. And memories of living in the north east when you had hardly finished washing up after Sunday lunch and darkness was approaching.

OP posts:
WitchesSpelleas · 25/10/2020 01:56

Staying up to appreciate my extra hour Smile

WitchesSpelleas · 25/10/2020 01:00

Ah, nothing beats watching the clock go back an hour.

MariolaIsHere · 25/10/2020 02:43

No, definitely need the light. When I used to work hated coming to work in dark and leaving in dark.

Mintjulia · 25/10/2020 03:02

Our household is up at 6. We're getting up in the dark and getting home in the dark already, and it's only mid-October.

I'm delighted the clocks are going back so we'll get some daylight for a few more weeks.

The thought of six months being inside and/or in the dark is appalling.

acerred · 25/10/2020 03:09

I don't much like it in the winter, I work in an extremely rural area with no street lights and leave work in the pitch black and have to take a torch to walk to my car. It doesn't feel safe, I could easily stumble and fall and there are no pavements on the road outside work. There is little passing traffic, no mobile phone signal and I'd be in trouble.

acerred · 25/10/2020 03:13

@Bikingbear

If the EU are planning to stop moving clocks are they planning on sticking with winter or summer?

What are Portugal and Ireland planning? They both operate in the same time zones as UK. The issue isn't just north vs south. It's an West vs East thing too. Not helped by many maps of the UK being distorted and straightened up to fit sheets of paper and TV the island is at more of an angle to the west than most people think.

Portugal changed to be on the same time zone as Spain so time ago now.
eaglejulesk · 25/10/2020 04:16

It's out of your control what other people discuss and yet you commented on our discussing it. See how that works?

It was a joke ffs

flaviaritt · 25/10/2020 06:59

Clocks went forward in spring, not back in winter. This is just normal light and dark.

TrojanWhore · 25/10/2020 07:05

EU is working towards abolishing the clock change. They voted for abolition, but implementation was bumped off the to-do list during the pandemic.

Brexit means we will not have to join in.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47704345

Whenwillow · 25/10/2020 07:15

We wouldn't have had to join in. It would be put to a vote. Just like all the other EU decisions - we had a vote, and a powerful one at that.

Snog · 25/10/2020 10:28

YANBU
I'd much prefer to stay on BST year round.

WitchesSpelleas · 25/10/2020 10:31

It was great waking up today at 7am to sunshine.

I know it will be dark again at 7 in a few weeks but I'm making the most of it.

Had a lovely lie-in this morning!

acerred · 25/10/2020 20:19

@WitchesSpelleas

It was great waking up today at 7am to sunshine.

I know it will be dark again at 7 in a few weeks but I'm making the most of it.

Had a lovely lie-in this morning!

In only 7 weeks time the days will be getting longer again.
WitchesSpelleas · 25/10/2020 20:29

Oh, yes, great thought!

MagicSummer · 26/10/2020 09:16

Counting the days until it starts getting lighter again. By the end of January, it's still twilight at 5.30 on a bright day!